The European Court of Auditors (ECA) published its oversight report on the implementation of the EU 2011 budget. The Court has signed off the 2011 accounts as complete and accurate, but finds too many errors in the underlying payments.The ECA estimates a rate of error of 3,9% for the EU budget as a whole. The rate of error was particularly high in 2 areas: Rural development (7,7%) and Regional policy(6%). Errors are caused by non-compliance of beneficiaries with EU- and national rules governing spending. Only a small part of errors represent fraud.

The biggest annual event in the world of regional and urban policy marks its 10th anniversary at a critical time. Talks on the EU budget are entering their final, crucial phase and major reforms of how the structural funds operate are on the table. More than 6,000 regional representatives from around Europe will join the call for a strong Regional Policy with a budget to match.

One year after the launch of the Danube Strategy, Commissioner for Regional Policy, Johannes Hahn is making a tour of the region to meet those who are putting the plan into action. He will discuss how to accelerate implementation of the Strategy which can be an important instrument in creating jobs and growth. The trip is also an opportunity for him to see at first-hand the progress being made through macro-regional cooperation, and to raise awareness, at political and public level, of the added value of the strategy.